Civil Liberties

Sacramento Officer Arrested for Sexually Assaulting Elderly Woman

Being held on $1 million bail

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With just a week left on the job until his retirement, Sacramento Police Chief Rick Braziel stood grim-faced Thursday night and recounted the allegations against one of his veteran employees.

So strong is the evidence against Officer Gary Baker, 49, Braziel said, that he had fired Baker earlier that day – the same day Baker's colleagues arrested him on suspicion of sexually assaulting an elderly woman with a serious speech impairment caused by a stroke.

"It does not shed a trusting light on the Sacramento Police Department," a somber Braziel said in a hastily called news conference. "Baker is not an accurate representation of the fine men and women of the department."